Ku Waru: Language and Segmentary Politics in the Western Nebilyer Valley, Papua New Guinea (Studies in the Social and Cultural Foundations of Language)

Although much has been written about the ceremonial exchange systems of New Guinea highlanders, this book is the first to concentrate on exchange events and the elaborate oratory used at them. Focusing on a remarkable set of warfare compensation payments which, for the first time, involved women as transactors, Francesca Merlan and Alan Rumsey advance our understanding of the interaction between social structures and historical events, and of the crucial role of talk.Francesca Merlan is the author of 'Ku Waru: Language and Segmentary Politics in the Western Nebilyer Valley, Papua New Guinea (Studies in the Social and Cultural Foundations of Language)', published 1991 under ISBN 9780521323390 and ISBN 0521323398.